Semana Santa/ Easter Holy Week and Spring Break

It is that time of the year when our little city of Puerto Peñasco hosts college Spring Breaks and then is followed by Semana Santa or Easter Holy Week. All condos and hotels are already being booked, so if you are planning on coming in March, I would suggest you make your reservations today. Not to scare you off, but if you are looking for a time to come here and relax, you might want to put it off until April. Spring Breaks begin March 1, 2018 so plan accordingly. If you don’t want your family or kids to drive down, please check out Head Out To Rocky Pointas they will have shuttles running all the time right from your door. Please remember TAP bus line has pulled service from Phoenix to Rocky Point.

You will several groups of Fariseo’s in Puerto Peñasco during lent

Semena Santa is without a doubt the most important holiday in Mexico. For the calendar year 2018 it begins on March 25th or Palm Sunday and ends on April 1st or the Sunday of Resurrection (Easter Sunday). Last week I noticed the Fariseo’s are in town. You will see these Indigenous people walking the streets in groups, in their outfits made of goat or pig skin with their drums and their bell leggings called Tenabaris and of course masks. The dance they do is called “pascola” and the bells make the characteristic sounds of this dance that you can hear from quite a distance. The masks represent Kings, animals, clowns and so much more but share one thing in common and that is having long pointy noses and big ears. They also wear a wooden beaded cross under their shirts to be protected . Do not be afraid of them, they are harmless and are on a mission. They will not speak to you or anyone through the entire time they are here. In most cases they are taken in by locals so they have a place to stay while on this mission. They will let you take a photo of them but a donation to them is how they make money for the party on Saturday the 31st when they burn their masks and take away all evils for the year. The Mayan and Yaqui culture is where much of this began in Mexico and has spread to Sinaloa and now Sonora. The Fariseo’s will be here the entire Lent season.

Full time resident of Puerto Peñasco since 2004. Originally from Wisconsin, I migrated to Phoenix in 1973 and then Mexico. Married to Bill, 2 children, 3 grand children, 2 great grand babies and 2 German Shepherds share my life. Love to walk to beach and go shelling and traveling to Lodi and Paso Robles to visit wineries as well as visiting the Valle de Guadalupe wineries near Ensenada, Mexico.